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Nuclear Disarmament

Nuclear Disarmament

UN Hosts 2015 NPT Review Conference

April 2015

The 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) takes place from 27 April to 22 May 2015 at UN Headquarters in New York with the objective to consider key issues and strengthen the review process.

The NPT is an agreed international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The NPT represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.

Conferences to review the operation of the Treaty have been held at five-year intervals since the Treaty went into effect in 1970. Each conference has sought to find agreement on a final declaration that would assess the implementation of the Treaty’s provisions and make recommendations on measures to further strengthen it.

Iran Matters

The Iran Project of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government is dedicated to promoting the study of contemporary Iranian politics particularly on issues that pertain to important challenges of international security, such as the Iranian nuclear program. “Iran Matters” presents the best analysis and facts on the Iranian nuclear challenge.

How To Get Rid of Nuclear Weapons

Gareth Evans YaleGlobal, 5 May 2010

Urgent tasks are ahead for the global community. As signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty gather to review its forty years’ performance, the danger posed by nuclear weapons remains undiminished.

Gareth Evans, Co-Chairman of an International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, interviewed by Nayan Chanda, Editor of YaleGlobal Online, discusses the threat and urgent tasks ahead for the international community.

Nuclear Security

The biggest potential threat to civilization, these noted authors argue, is the possibility of terrorists acquiring a nuclear weapon and using it in a major urban center. Fortunately, this can be prevented by securing all the fissile material in the world.

It is a steep task but one that is well within the capability of existing technology as Russia and the United States have demonstrated in their efforts since the end of the Cold War. At a summit in April of 2010 in Washington, the authors exhorted world leaders to focus their attention on securing securing fissile materials. It is critical that all countries focus on security because in an interconnected world, nuclear material stolen from one country can be used in a deadly attack against another country without too much difficulty.

Nuclear Weapons: The Greatest Peril to Civilization

Ted Turner presentation YaleGlobal, 25 March 2008

Common sense suggests limiting nuclear weapons and population growth could save the environment. Ted Turner started a global broadcasting network well before globalization became a common currency. His philanthropic efforts have since demonstrated both his global vision and blunt assessments of the challenges facing the world. As such, Turner is a master of globalization.

As co-founder of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Turner delivered the keynote address at a Yale Center for the Study of Globalization conference “Nuclear Weapons: The Greatest Peril to Civilization,” on February 21, 2008. In his address, Turner identifies three major global challenges — ending nuclear proliferation, slowing climate change and stabilizing population. To best address these global challenges, Turner urges that all countries of the world, powerful or weak, play by the same set of rules.

Global Zero

A World without nuclear weapons. A step-by-step plan to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2030. The only way to eliminate the existential nuclear threat is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, secure all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons: “global zero.”

We have a plan. It’s backed by political leaders, military commanders and national security experts worldwide. The challenge now is getting world leaders to act, and it’s high time they get to work to make that happen. But not without strong, sustained and urgent support from the public, leaders and the media